


Even ice can burn

by Kyni, OrphielBurrito



Series: Of time and universes [10]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Drama, Fix-it fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-03
Updated: 2017-09-03
Packaged: 2018-12-23 03:58:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11981667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kyni/pseuds/Kyni, https://archiveofourown.org/users/OrphielBurrito/pseuds/OrphielBurrito
Summary: At the crossroads, the Doctor and the Master meet one last time before going on a mission, leaving behind two children of time.





	Even ice can burn

The doors of the shelter closed on the two boys, leaving the Master and the Doctor alone. Alone with their thoughts and their respective anger.

The Master was angry at himself for having done something so out of character, so... not evil. He wasn't used to being the good guy in anyone's story, not even his own, and this whole incident had given him a very good reason why. He wasn't _built_ to be good. When he did try, things always ended up miserably, and now the Doctor was about to yell at him and go back to their gloom because they would decide to leave him to his own device. What if the Valeyard appeared again because the Doctor couldn't let go of this one little mistake? Had they thought he had suddenly changed and turned into the perfect father for two brats who hadn't shown an ounce of respect for him? He felt like he had to prove to his old arch-enemy that he was still very much the Master – but considering how upset they were, that would be rather difficult.

As for the Doctor, they didn't know what bothered them the most. That the children were in such a dire situation, that they had to watch Gallifrey burn all over again, that it had been their fault this time too, that the Master had so predictably betrayed them after they had chosen to trust him so completely? A combination of everything, probably, with the added bonus of self-blame. Trusting the Master had been a terrible idea from the start and the Doctor couldn't possibly see it as anything other than personal failure.

“I told you to keep them in the ship,” they murmured, hands clenched tight on the ship's console. “I _told_ you.

\- If I had taken them back to Gallifrey, they'd be dead now.

\- Oh, I'm sorry, does this look like a good alternative to you? You know full well they can't stay on Earth. Soon, Koschei will want to save the universe again. And what about Theta? Do you think he'll stay quiet and be a good kid?”

The Master could see the Doctor's anger in the way their knuckles went white, in the way the corners of their mouth seemed tight. Part of him hated that he knew them so well.

“I didn't imagine this would happen. Koschei has been out of control since the moment you talked to him... he's very much like you.

\- Go to hell!

\- Then stop yelling at me! I didn't do anything bad until now, in fact I've been behaving more than I've ever had in my entire life, all for your pretty eyes, so go fuck yourself and leave me alone!”

The Doctor was not the only person in the ship who was capable of anger, far from it – but the Master's was made of fire when theirs was made of ice.

“First of all, I'm not _yelling,”_ whispered the Doctor between their clenched teeth. “Second, you're not the one who had to spend _days_ in jail with an infected prisoner then watch Gallifrey burn _again_ so please would you be so kind as to _tone it the hell down?”_

Even ice could burn sometimes. The Doctor's voice had grown louder with every word and at the end of their speech, they seemed to be about to cry and they still couldn't look at the Master in the eyes. He hadn't imagined what they had been through. He hadn't thought. Not that it made their lashing at him any more forgiveable but at least he could understand why they were so sensitive.

“What did you do?” asked the Master as softly as he could, given his own anger.

“I tried to investigate Rassilon's doings but he found out. His interference policy only applies to other people, apparently... He had a whole plan concerning the children. He was planning to turn Theta into the Valeyard and make him the perfect weapon from day one.

\- This is not our universe... we shouldn't interfere.

\- I'm laughing so hard I can't breathe,” groaned the Doctor before giving him a sidelong glance.

\- Think about it. We interfered and see the result already... we probably should stop now, don't you think? I can't believe I'm the one saying that...”

It was more than surprising, indeed. Perhaps if someone else had said such wise words, the Doctor would have listened.

“Can we? Can we really? We have a bunch of Time Lords on the loose. Koschei is right: they will destroy everything.

\- Then what do you think we can do about this?” The Master sighed, not very enthusiastic at the idea of having to save the universe _again._ _“_ You know all I can do is to divide and conquer, right?

\- And you can't even do that properly. I don't know. We can at least try.”

Despite their obvious exhaustion, the Doctor was wearing a determined look on their face, and the Master knew better than to try and stop them at this point. Sighing again and mumbling something about being on a leash, he consented to help them – one last time.

 


End file.
